SBP: Philadelphia City Paper embraces Session Beer

Philly City Paper ran another good beer piece yesterday: "Basic Training: Local writers and companies lead the retrograded session beer movement."

The piece, by Tim Hyland, quotes General Lafayette owner/brewer Chris Leonard, Tröegs co-founder Chris Trogner, Victory co-founder Bill Covaleski, and myself. A very positive piece on the session beer idea: thanks, CP and Tim.

SBP: Putting Our Session Beer Where Your Mouth Is

We teased you.

We promised you.

We threatened you. (Well, Dan did.)

And now it's finally here:

The Session Summer of Love

at Ortino's Northside

May 24, 25, and 26

That's right, folks: three days of session beer events. If that's not a Session Beer Project, I don't know what is. Ortino's Northside in Zieglersville, which hosted my first Session Beer event back in March, has stepped up to the plate with three events that promise extended drinking pleasure, smaller beers that will let your drinking day last longer. Radical.

It all starts Thursday May 24th at 6:30, when I host another session beer dinner. We'll be out on the new patio -- with the new outdoor bar and tap system -- getting into summertime mode with a menu of steamers, bar-b-que chicken, and tater salad. Nice light stuff, and we'll have some great lightweight beers (is that fun to say? You bet!): Allagash White, Stoudt's Weizen, some Kölsch from the new Union Barrel Works in Reamstown, a very rare out-of-Philly appearance of Nodding Head Berliner Weisse, an even rarer Pennsylvania appearance of East End Wheat Hop (because this Pittsburgh brewery is in Westsylvania, y'know), and a final special treat, the classic lambic Oud Beersel Framboise. That's value for the money at a $40 ticket. You can get them by stopping by The Northside or calling 610-287-7272 during business hours.

Then on Friday, May 25th, drop by for our "Cask Away" night, when we'll be serving up some perfect pins of session beer that washed up on the Zieglersville shore. It's pay-as-you-go in a challenge to Philadelphia: they say the suburbs don't drink cask ale. With beers like Nodding Head's All Night Ale (an espresso-infused dark mild) and Legacy Brown Aled Girl, I figure the suburbs will be there for a serious session. (We're still arranging beers on this one; we'll have at least five, and I'll put them up as we get them.)

The big event is Saturday, May 26th, when we unveil what we believe is the first event of its kind anywhere in the U.S.: a festival of session beers, where no beer will be served that's over 5.5% alcohol by volume. Get some great beers that won't sucker-punch you! A partial list: Southampton- Secret Ale, Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer Ale, Legacy Reading Pilsner, Victory Whirlwind Wit, Stoudt's Weizen, Lancaster Summer Rye, Erie Mad Anthony Ale, Sly Fox British Pale Ale, East End Wheat Hop (plus another, probably Fat Gary Nut Brown), Church Brew Works Pious Monk Dunkel, General Lafayette Pacific Pale Ale, Iron Hill Belgian Pale Ale, Union Barrel Works Kölsch, and some more of that Oud Beersel Framboise. You may also see some Weyerbacher Blanche, Penn Weizen, Barley Creek Brown, Climax Helles, Summit Wheat, Brooklyn Brown or Lager, ABC Pilsner, River Horse Summer Blonde, and Tröegs Dreamweaver, and we're still trying to decide what to pour from Nodding Head, Dogfish Head, and Yards. Saturday starts at 1:00 and it is all pay-as-you-go, no entrance fee, ticket, secret password, or nothin'.

Now...is that session enough for you?

I'm doing a little research myself this weekend with a sixtel of Flying Fish Farmhouse Ale at a family event. As Uncle Jack mentioned at the Beer Yard site, I was involved in a blind judging panel at the recent Manayunk Beer fest, where we picked this as Best of Show out of a field of 21 entries. I always liked the FFFA, but the blind tasting made me decide to have another look. Just in case the session should pale -- or it gets cold, or a snake bites someone -- we've also got a case of Brooklyn Local 1 and some Victory Saphir Bock. It pays to be prepared.

"It's Like I Don't Even Know You..."

I don't know Natalie MacLean. I've never met her. But I thoroughly enjoyed her book "Red & White & Drunk All Over," and I've enjoyed her website writing. We've exchanged e-mails and links, and that was enjoyable, too; Natalie's quite personable.

But something she wrote is hitting the blogwaves, and I'm baffled. Uncle Jack's already posted the text at his site; go read it and come back.

So...are you pissed off? Yeah, me too, but not by the beer v. wine thing. There are bored wine writers facing deadlines all the time, and this kind of thing has been done to death. That's what pisses me off: the "done to death" part. I like MacLean's wine writing because it's honest and fresh and very much not "same-old same-old," and this piece of dreck is nothing but.

Three years ago I might have taken it apart, point by point, but you know, I've done that. I am no longer trying to educate wine writers who refuse to get it unless they're paying me for the lessons. I am happy to share beer and whiskey knowledge with Eric Asimov at the NYT, a wine writer who most certainly does get it. I'm learning about wine myself, the fun way: I'm drinking a variety of it.

The thing that's most painful about this screed that MacLean slopped out is that it's so obviously an attempt to stir things up. She has not only turned her blind eye to craft beers, artisanal beers, the huge spectrum of beers beyond mainstream...she's telling us that she is as she does it. "Oh sure, you can talk about your craft ales and your artisanal brews, but most beer..." Right, we get it, you're deliberately avoiding the rocks that hole your argument, just as you're avoiding box wine, jug wine, fortified wine. It's not about a real argument, or creating a serious discussion. It's all about the bandwidth, baby: drive the traffic.

Well, that's why I cited Uncle Jack's website, not hers. I'm driving what meager traffic I influence to him. He deserves it.

*****************

And to all you wine-bibers who are chortling over this...watch your back. You were thought to be every bit as nasty, pathetic, and drunk-oriented fifty years ago. A dedicated band of small, smart, passionate producers turned things around. Sound familiar? Okay, I'll spell it out for you: that's what's happening in beer right now. So why not lighten up and check out the good stuff? You might find something you really like, and a bottle of La Chouffe is a lot less than a comparable bottle of pinot noir.

Support Your Local Brewery™

It is very good to see that the Brewers Association has finally enlisted the assistance of you and me, the beer drinkers, to lobby on the behalf of breweries. I've been doing it for years, but I'm not always aware of what's happening in the legislature. The BA has created a group to get the word out and mobilize the awaiting enthusiasm of craft beer drinkers: Support Your Local Brewery.

I've signed up to receive e-mail alerts when there are issues affecting breweries unde debate in my state legislature. I assume we would also be alerted to national issues. I encourage you to do likewise.

Great work, Brewers Association! Now, if you could just remember that it's not just ales that are made by craft brewers...

SBP: Mild Weather in May

I didn't find mild on Friday, when we were supposed to blog about it for The Session, but I did find it in abundance yesterday, so I'm going to step into the Wayback Machine and pretend this all happened when the beer-blogging calendar wanted it to...

Mild is perhaps the archetype of session beers. It's low in alcohol, nicely flavored with malts and usually a good ale yeast, and it's a smooth, easy drinker.

But it is unfortunately hard to find. Mild just isn't that popular in the U.S., for a variety of reasons. It's looked down on as uninteresting by a number of beer geeks -- not big enough, not hoppy enough -- which includes a number of brewers. "Mild" is not a familiar beer name for most Americans, who unfortunately won't try a beer if it's called "Mild" (or "Bitter," for that matter).

On the other hand, I wasn't surprised at all to find milds at a homebrewing event. Homebrewers, for all their tendencies to go big and go crazy with exotic and experimental beers, also have a respect for uncommon beers. They also know that a flawless low-alcohol beer says more about their skill than a big, chunky beer that might be hiding flaws under heavy layers of hops and roasted malts. And they also like to drink, which mild is perfect for. I meet more and more homebrewers who tell me that they almost always have a mild or bitter around to drink every day.

Sure enough, while walking around the grassy field of the Southern California Homebrewers Festival on a perfect SoCal afternoon, I came across some milds in short order. The Maltose Falcons club was pouring four of them, all on cask (That's right: four, on cask. There were about 16 other beers and meads on tap as well. This is not your typical homebrewing event, these guys are serious. I was awed): Rainier (hopped with the new Mt. Rainier hop), Oat Malt, and Alderwood (made with smoked malt), the fourth wasn't on when I made my run, and I've forgotten the name, sorry.

The Rainier reminded me somewhat of the Three Floyds Pride & Joy Mild, in that it was refreshing, but perhaps too hoppy for the style. The Alderwood was good, not overdone at all, but a bit odd. The Oat Malt was just what I was looking for: good malty flavor in spades, light-bodied but not thin at all, and a subtle richness that rounded things off nicely. And it was really tasty with the "Big Dick's Famous Pickled Egg" I got at another club's stand. For about ten minutes, I was in mild heaven. If not for the "try me, try me!" vibe that festivals like this generate, I'd probably have stuck with this for quite a while, and would have been happy.

The only sad thing about this was that I had to go to a homebrewing festival to find more than a single mild. To be honest, finding a mild in Philly would probably have required some serious searching. There aren't any local brewers who regularly make a mild; Victory has on occasion, Weyerbacher made a nice one back five years ago or so, and Yards has done one.

But they just don't sell. Why? Philadelphia is a town that gets cask ale, possibly more than any other U.S. town. But while pale ales and IPAs and porters and stouts thrive on cask here, milds don't even show up. I have to be honest, too: it's not a case of "milds don't sell because no one makes them, and no one makes milds because they don't sell" circular illogic. Brewers have tried making milds, and they languish in the market.

Is it the name? Is it the unfamiliarity? I don't know if I completely buy that: there are lots of people buying beers with unfamiliar names, just look at the popularity of Belgians. One of Yards' most popular beers is their Saison, hardly a household word outside geek circles.

Are they boring? Not at all, when they're made well. Maybe that's part of it, that brewers don't have enough faith in mild to make it without pumping it up somehow, over-hopping it, or smoking it, or pushing the upper edge of the style on ABV. When things like that get done to a mild, they don't ring true. It's like poodle-clipping a Golden Retriever. Just let the mild be a good mild, don't cover it up.

Getting a good mild is something that's at the heart of the Session Beer Project. The beer-blogging project this post is part of, The Session, is about milds this month: I hope it generates some interest in brewers and drinkers alike. Otherwise, mild is going to be treated the same way Tom Pastorius at Penn Brewing says dark beer is treated, like going to church: everyone talks about it, but most people don't go more than once or twice a year.

That's not enough to keep a beer alive. If you see mild, get it. If it's good, get stuck into it. I'm counting on you. And meanwhile... keep up the good work, homebrewers.

Milds: Why I haven't done The Session...yet

Yesterday, Friday, May 4th, was the day for The Session, the beer blogging we've been doing, and Jay Brooks declared it to be Mild Month. Everyone else is checking in...and here's Mister Session Beer Project, silent. What's up?

I'm in California, and couldn't even look for mild yesterday. It's a long story, but here's the gist: today I'll be having at least four milds...and I'll be in late. But I'll be there. You betcha!

Pennsylvania Brewery news up on my site

I've got some Pennsylvania news up on the site: a three brewer move involving John Harvard's Wayne, Johnstown Brewing, and the soon-to-open Rivertowne Pourhouse; and an update on One Guy Brewing in Berwick.

Get it while it's hot.

Triumph Eats Good, Too

Triumph Old City threw a press dinner last night, and I didn't want to pass up the chance to hang around with the working press, so once again I made the trek to Chestnut Street (although this time I did have to pay for parking...). There was a brewery tour (which included a look at the grist gun, a thoroughly cool piece of brewing technology I hadn't seen before) with Patrick Jones, a tasting session with Jay Misson (which got rapidly raucous; the working press ain't used to gunning down five quick beers), and then...dinner.

Triumph Old City is all about small plates and sharing, so the food came in sharing-friendly configurations. Three little burgers on a plate, for instance: a burger-burger, a mushroom burger (made of mushrooms, that is: vegetarian) with bacon (brilliant!), and a pork roll burger ("Just to get pork roll on the menu," said Jay). Crisp little traingles of thin crust pizza with mushrooms and truffle oil. Grilled shrimps and scallops.

And then there was dessert, which is the real reason I'm even posting this, because I got the chocolate mint julep gelato, and it was phenomenal. Imagine a really good chocolate gelato, with a clean dose of fresh mint flavor, stuffed with as much Knob Creek as they could fit into it without dropping the freezing point to an unworkable level. It was frickin' awesome.

And yeah, the beers were pretty good too. And Jay took me aside and explained the dunkel I bitched about before, and we talked about Sinamar and dark malts and, well, I hate it when the brewer's right. Just ask O'Reilly.

A Milestone...Kind Of

Seen Through A Glass is officially of note!

I got my first spam comment this morning. STAG is out there enough that the spammers have noticed, which means I'll be trashing spam comments.

Wow. I feel validated and violated at the same time.

Onwards!

Stoudt's at 20

It seems hard to believe, but Stoudt Brewing notches 20 years this year. I don't know if it seems like yesterday or forever -- guess I'm getting to that age -- but I can tell you that the brewery's never looked better.

Carol and Ed Stoudt threw a party at their beerhall to celebrate (That's Ed, my hatted self, Carol, and Bill "Mr. Victory" Covaleski...um, towards the end of the party), and Cathy and I went up. We pulled in behind a Berkshire Brewing pickup; wow, I said, they're coming in from all over! We ran into Tom Peters of Monk's Cafe and the Iron Hill Gang right away, grabbed some beers -- Pilsner, natch -- and started going on about whatever was on our minds.

The dinner, paired with different Stoudt's beers, was excellent, very well-prepared, and the evening's entertainment was exceptional as well: a roast of Carol and Ed by friends from the brewing industry: Covaleski, Gary Bogoff (from Berkshire Brewing), Ken Allen of Anderson Valley, Chris O'Connor of Northampton Brewery (also celebrating 20 years this year), Sebbie "East Coast Rogue" Buhler, and Mark Edelson of Iron Hill.

There was at least one other roaster, but I'm blanking; Cathy and I were sitting with the Iron Hill brewers, a raucous and hilarious bunch, and I may have paid less attention at times than I should have. One major topic of table conversation was how Edelson, who was 'batting cleanup' as the last roaster, was going to do after the phenomenal performance by O'Connor, who brought the house down with his stories and barbs. We howled when Larry Horwitz (Iron Hill North Wales brewer) texted Edelson to ask him that, and Edelson responded "Im screwed."

We couldn't allow that to happen of course, so we sent him some material, and we collected some single brewer's cards and put them in my hat for Mark to pull out a "Mystery Date" for Carol's two unspoken-for daughters. The look of grateful relief on his face was a beautiful thing, and as you can see by Carol's reaction in the picture to the left, he killed.

After Mark redeemed himself, we got the release we'd been waiting for: the 20th anniversary beer, Smooth Hoperator. As you might guess from the name, it's a hopped-up doppelbock (although I've seen it tagged as an amber lager and an AIPA on various beersites...either I'm nuts or they are). Smooth as a preacher's downfall, powerfully hoppy, and just a bit dangerously drinkable at 7%, this one's a winner.

So, okay...that's the party. Thoughts on the Stoudt's 20th anniversary? Well, pleasure, mostly, and some vindication. I've always been a fan of this brewery, lager/German-oriented as it is. I've been friends with Ed and Carol for years, been to a number of their fests. I'm very glad to see the brewery finally off contracting; I think the beer has benefitted from the focus, and I'm glad to see the response from the customers has been positive. I'm hoping that people will give them another look in the light of the 20th anniversary: this is a brewery with relevance. The classic styles they continue to produce are some of the best American iterations of their type.

Here's to plenty more years of fine beers from Stoudt's Brewing. Stick to your guns, keep brewing lagers in a family tradition, and don't back down on the Germanosity of the whole operation. And whatever has to be done to keep the fests going, do it, they're still some of the best around.

From Cathy and I: Prost, Stoudt's! Viel Erfolg!